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Imperial Project Wiki
Welcome to the Imperial Project Wiki RPG / Card game / Anything in between setting based on Asian-themes, but mixed with all sorts of other influences, in an attempt to make an organic and well-developped alternative setting for games like Legend of the Five Rings, Pathfinder, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd or other games. *Introduction to the Project Themes of the game Any good settings need to have some thematics ideas that make it at least a bit different from other settings. As a general idea, there are themes that will generally follow the Imperial Project whatever era people want to play in, or however they want to modify it. One of the first, and simplest one, is the theme of Servitude VS Free Will, where the players see their desire to serve their lord, master or temple and their desire to act on their own, having to balance the two or disregard one or the other for better or worst. This is a recurring theme in many of the older asian narratives which are part of what this setting is based on. Another theme is the clash of cultures over a large area under a singular rule, where people of different religions, language and social background interact. Of course, modern asian narratives are also used for themes, like the fight against evil (both internal and external), the love of adventure and exploration and heroic action. One of the other themes is the uncovering of secrets: the Empire is rife with them, from the origin of their leaders, the religious orders, the presence of the supernatural, the existence of strange creatures which do not fit the "era", and that's only counting the local secrets, not those outside of the Empire, like the mystery of the Pu telepathic ability, the origin of the Faceless and the supernatural ability of the Kindai religious order. The first era created for the setting is the Civil War, which pits various political factions of the Empire against one another, with themes like nationalism, the advance of technology and the erosion of the old order, tradition vs modernity and war between brothers and sisters. 'Necessary readings' There are no necessary readings to be able to understand this setting, even though some readings would help understand some of the thematic ideas behind it. What is needed is for you to read the setting material contained on these pages and you will be ready to go and play in the Imperial Project at your leisure, as long as you have fun doing it. The rules section of the wikia will be mostly created for L5R 4E, by Alderac, at first, but other rulesets might be adapted in a near (or far) future. There are, however, a few things you can read to help you understand the setting a bit more, but also things you can watch, listen to, ect... *'Legend of the Five Ring background': This is what originally prompted me to create this setting, as I was disatisfied with a lot of the material in L5R, even though a lot of it was also really good. Things being as they are, many things are similar, but also dramatically different. If you're already aware of the L5R setting, you will be less confused by the setting at times. *'Romance of the Three Kingdoms': An important novel of Chinese "fiction" based on important, historical dynastic struggles. When playing military games in the setting, especially in the northern Yunjin territories, this can be a very good inspiration for characters, set pieces and events. *'Under Heaven' (Guy Gavriel Kay): A simple modern novel about a rebellion in 8th century China and the effect a simple man has on the entire Empire, perfectly thematical for a more polically oriented game. *'Shui Hu Zan' / Water Margin / Other translations: The story of righteous brigands in their fight against a corrupt government. Once again, traditional Chinese literature but a great source of inspiration and themes for an aspiring GM. The JRPGs derived from it (Suikoden) are also pretty good (imho) and can be used to inspire you in a struggle between a smallish group of adventurers against a powerful, omnipresent nation. *'The Tale of Genji': Basically, if you're going to run a game based mostly in the court, this should almost be required reading, showing just how many twists and turns you can get out of a relatively simple love story. *'Gintama': Enough with the classics and the higher litterature, let's go deep in pop culture. Gintama is a silly story about silly characters doing silly things... until you get into one of the direct character arc. While it remain silly, those bidimensional characters you were expecting to remain silly show incredibly profound backgrounds and development. The Chanbara action in the story is also a good way to see just how far you can take your fights. *'Detective Conan': Not for the themes or the story itself, but as a showcase as to how much the Japanese actually like a good detective story, and it can give you some ideas on how to murder someone in your game and have the players search for the criminal (who is, more than likely, someone who was screwed over in the past). *'One Piece': The top selling manga of all time, with deep character arcs, wonderful action scenes and very well set into almost self-contained arc, all things that can easily be used in a good game or for inspiration. *'Professional Wrestling' (WWE and other promotions): Ever wonder how to write interesting recurring villains and heroes, characters that switch from good to bad and bad to good, living caricatures that make you cheer or boo them? Look no further. If you want to make recurring characters, this is the right way to do it, actually, by making them memorable with very few traits but by overexposing them. *'A Song of Ice and Fire' (George R.R. Martin): If you want to see just how bad a dynastic struggle can get, look no further... Latest activity Category:Browse